What item did you WISH you would have packed?

You know how it is when you go on vacation and after arriving you think "Oh cr*p! I wish I would have brought _______ !!!"

What is one item tht you forgot and wished you had...or one item you will not cruise without. Looking for things other than the obvious like signifigant other, underwear, sunscreen, LOL. More $$ is a given, I guess. You get the idea! (for kids or adults)

Just finished packing....I THINK....and want to avoid any "oh cr*p" moments.;)

How about a night light for the bathroom and an extension cord? The outlets never seem to be where you need them.

I'm packing today as well for the 4 of us and I'm exhausted!! I have six TYPED pages of stuff on my list and very little of it is even clothes!! I just don't see how people are able to cruise with just bringing on a carryon bag!! I was stunned when I read that thread. They must wear the same thing everyday and just skip formal nights.

I would have to say something to kill the pain of sun poisoning from martinique last year. we were in so much pain the only thing we could fit on our feet was water shoes for formal night. Kerry our asst maitre D was great with out fitting us with loose fitting clothes for the next port of all.how embarrassing!!!a long green gown with pink water shoes!!!

An extra bag packed at the bottom of your suitcase to carry home extra stuff home and or to have for the stuff you need overnight the last night.

An extra swimsuit.....they never seem to get dry and they get smelly after a while.

I would have to say something to kill the pain of sun poisoning from martinique last year. we were in so much pain the only thing we could fit on our feet was water shoes for formal night. Kerry our asst maitre D was great with out fitting us with loose fitting clothes for the next port of all.how embarrassing!!!a long green gown with pink water shoes!!!

The remedy...no kidding....Prepertion H Cooling Gel. It works wonders. It was recommended to me by a pharmacist years ago and I never cruise without it! :cool:

OK...I know you said one thing but I can't help myself. Everyone has heard this one a thousand times....but I would never, no never, leave without my over the door shoe thingy!:D

Ear plugs and "Bonamine" for motion sickness.(Just in case)

An Extension Cord strip.

And a nightlight.

And with a family, my over the door shoe holder.

I have to add my 2 cents here. I read all about the over the door shoe holder and I bought one for one of our cruises. We cruise just mother and daughter in an inside cabin and we didn't really use it. We had plenty of room in the bathroom cabinet and the dresser. I also have a freedom bag I use and hang in the bathroom so I'm sure this helps.

Now if you had a family I can see were you would use it. I just wanted to add that all the tips aren't for everyone so read them all try them and you will find what works for you.

I do bring a shoe door hanger but a different type. It holds 9 pairs of shoes in clear pockets with a hanger hook on it, one shoe on each side. Hard to describe. We hang this in the closet and use it for shoes. It keeps them off the floor and out of the way. With two women in the same cabin this is valuable to us!

Another thing I don't like to cruise without are those large two gallon ziplock bags, they are great!

For the bathroom and especially the shower, we take some 'suction-cup baskets' for shampoo and soap bottles. Never a good place to set anything while you're washing your hair!

Mike

_

I'm an over-packer. There has never been a time when I wished I had packed something I didn't....except on my honeymoon 23 years ago when I forgot my birth-control pills...... :eek: :eek:

As I was getting ready to get off the ship weekend before last, I was wishing that I had another set of cruise documents :(

The only thing that I slightly missed was a travel alarm clock. The wake up calls were only somewhat reliable. They worked everyday but one. Luckily it was no big deal and I woke up anyway. Ziplock bags, of assorted sizes, definitely came in handy.

Kristin

Bottled water. It is so expensive on the ship. At our first port, we carried on 6 gallons we bought in port for a fraction of the price of the ships.

As I was getting ready to get off the ship weekend before last, I was wishing that I had another set of cruise documents :(

ahhhh....I feel your pain :(

One thing I always try to remember is some pain killer (Tylenol, Ibuprofen, etc.) and some cold medication. They take up very little space and are VERY expensive on board. I'd hate to wake up on the second day of the cruise with a head cold coming on and nothing to take.

The travel alarm clock would be great if you have an inside cabin where it's SO DARK but there has been a clock radio on the nightstand on both of our cruises.

The other thing I want to remember for next time is to take a large thermal mug. If you don't drink the foo-foo drinks and you don't buy a pop card, you have to rely on water, lemonade, ice-tea, etc. from the ship and the glasses available are small. To have a large thermal mug I could fill with ice tea to take by the pool would be ideal.

And the only other thing I can think of would be binoculars. Not for the reason you might be thinking!! But coming in to port, it would be cool to have some. Also if you see another ship close by as we often do. Also, on our last cruise we were literally in the middle of nowhere (the middle of our sea day) and I could see a very small boat floating not far from our ship. I would love to have been able to get a better look at that. We decided it must be an abandoned boat as a boat that small could not carry enough fuel to get it out that far. They would also be handy when you see dolphins or other sea life in the water near your ship as we did at breakfast a couple mornings - I would love to have gotten a closer look.

Our last 2 cruises have been with our kids. We just got off the Miracle yesterday. I forgot the lanyards for my older son and cost $5 on board. My dh got a cord from ocean players club so I used that. Next time am bringing the lanyards. I find now that kids are odler they really use them.

I also would have loved a clock. I do not wear a watch on vacation and what a pain in the middle of the night to find out the time. I am also doing the night light next time. We just kept the light on in the bathroom and left the door a crack open. We had an oceanview and closed the drapes at night so was dark in room.

I found storage excellent and did not use it all with 4 people in the room. I highly recommend the 2 gallon bags.

This may sound oddball, but the only thing I really wished I had brought was my daughter's violin, so she could have partipated in the kid's talent show with it. She plays really well and would have loved performing, but it was one more thing I didn't want to have to lug. After we got there I wish I had!

I wish I had brought binoculars, a clock for the room that can be seen in the dark, and my digital camera.

This last item was left on the front passenger side floor of my car, with the new flash card I bought so I could take lots of pictures. Ah well, there's always next time.

For the ladies . . . . . EXTRA feminine hygiene products! Flights, change of altitude, activity, etc. can make things "unreliable" if you know what I mean. I spent $15 for a one day supply in the ship's gift shop.

great ideas! Keep em coming!

I'll reinforce the TRAVEL ALARM CLOCK.

I had trouble one or two days with the Carnival phone alarm thing. I dunno, maybe I did it wrong, maybe it failed. whatever. The ol' alarm clock completely in my control is comforting.

I found one thing that was really helpful on the one cruise I've been on was a small, light-weight, over the shoulder purse. I was able to keep my room key, sunglasses, and a few other items with me at all times without worrying about what I was going to do with my purse. It was also extremely helpful during shore excursions. I went on a dolphin experience thing where we had to leave our extra items under a little bench...the purse was easy to hide under my normal clothes. :D